


Once

by Beth Harker (Beth_Harker)



Category: Newsies (1992)
Genre: Canon Era, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Canon, Snitch and Dutchy are both esl speakers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-28
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-08-08 18:20:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16434449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beth_Harker/pseuds/Beth%20Harker
Summary: The story of how Itey learned his English ordinal numbers, along with a few other things.





	Once

Snitch / Itey  
23 = Just once

\-----------------

"Dutchy!" Itey ran up to the other boy. He'd been waiting for a chance to be alone with one of the others, any of them really, but Dutchy was especially good, because he understood languages. He spoke at least four of them, and could always explain everything very well. It was early evening, and both of them had things to do, but Itey hoped that Dutchy could talk for just a few minutes. Itey felt fortunate to have come across him at just the right moment.

"What is 'once'," Itey asked. "What is the word meaning?"

"Once?" Dutchy repeated. "It means one time."

"One time? Time? One o'clock?" Itey's brow furrowed. That didn't seem right to him.

"No. No, not one o'clock. It's... erm... Well, it's like this..." Dutchy jumped up in the air. "See? I jumped one time. I jumped once." He held up one finger to further demonstrate, then he jumped two times, and held up two fingers. "I jumped two times. I jumped twice." 

"Is for jumping?" 

"Not only jumping. I gotta think about something to do...hmm." Dutchy paused, then bit his finger. "I bit my finger once. Okay, now I bit my finger twice. Do you understand?"

Itey cocked his head to a side, and thought about it. 

"Let's see," said Dutchy gently. "Hey Itey, touch my shoulder once."

Cautiously, Itey reached out and tapped Dutchy's shoulder. 

"Good! Touch it twice."

Itey did. It made Dutchy grin from ear to ear. 

"English is a terrible language," Dutchy told him. "But you get used to it."

Even though Itey nodded his agreement, he still couldn't help but think that he was missing something.

\------------

"Kid Blink! Mush!"

It was past midnight, but Mush and Kid Blink often went outside around this time. The other boys spread rumors that it was because they had girlfriends, and neither Blink nor Mush had ever claimed that it was untrue. That was why Itey needed to talk to them now, and why he'd waited outside especially to find them. 

Mush looked over at Blink like he was trying to tell him something with his eyes.

"Hey Itey," Blink answered, casual as could be. "What is it?"

"I need to ask you the question about kissing. Can I ask you the question?"

Blink nodded slowly. 

"You kiss your friends here," Itey touched his cheek. "And you kiss your girlfriends here," Itey gestured to his mouth. "Yes?"

Mush grinned, and touched his cheek. " _You_ kiss your friends there. The rest of us... Well..."

"It ain't what we do here," Blink said. "You does it ‘cause you’re Italian, not like the rest of us.” 

“Not like the rest of you,” Itey repeated. The words tasted bad in his mouth, somehow. 

“And that's just great,” Blink hastened to add, perhaps having noticed the expression on Itey’s face. “I like your weird kissing thing! It's real nice! Maybe we oughta do it here.”

"You shouldn't worry about it," Mush said. "Race told us that's what you does in Italy, and Dutchy said Race wasn't lying. Not that we suspect Race of lying, but hey, he's got a bet going on how long it takes you to figure things out, so if you're thinking about stopping..."

"Be a pal, and wait a couple of weeks," Blink finished, 

Itey's stomach sank. "It is wrong," he stated dully. He hated doing things wrong, but it was hard when instead of telling him, the others joked about it and made bets.

"No," Blink said quickly. "Look, it's fine. Just different. We'se all from different places and all and..."

"Hey Itey, you want me to kiss Blink to make you feel better," Mush offered. He didn't wait for an answer, before placing a soft kiss right on Blink's cheek. Itey wondered why this tiny, mundane gesture should make Blink look like he'd just won a hundred dollars in a game of cards.

"See?" Mush was grinning too. "It don't mean nothing."

Itey went back inside after that. Mush was right. It didn't mean _nothing_ , it meant _something_. It meant so many things, if only Itey could just comprehend it.

\-----------

"Racetrack!"

Itey had waited a couple of weeks to speak to Race. He didn't want Blink and Mush to lose their bet, after all, and besides, now that Itey was in on it they were offering him a cut of the profits.

"People don't kiss each other in greeting here, do they?” Itey asked the other boy in easy, quick Italian, that was such a relief to speak. "You should've told me that Americans don't do that."

Racetrack smiled sheepishly. He shrugged. "Hey," he answered in English. "You looked like you was having fun." For the next few words, Racetrack decided to speak in Italian, and he lowered his voice conspiratorially as he did so. "Looks like you weren't the only one having fun," he whispered. 

Itey swallowed. He could feel the heat rising in his face, and another kind of heat settling in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't such a bad thing, not really, but Itey didn't think he'd ever get over being so confused, missing so many signals , and doing it all the time until he felt almost like a joke. 

"And kissing on the mouth is only for lovers?" Itey verified. He thought he already knew the answer. 

Racetrack nodded. He had a pack of cards, and he seemed very intent in looking through them all of a sudden.

"Once?" Itey asked in English. "What if it is once?"

"That's very romantic," Racetrack told him. He was unconcerned. As for Itey, _his_ concern was nearly overwhelming. 

\------- 

"Snitch!"

It had taken Itey such a long time to muster up the courage and the privacy to do this. Snitch, who had been very insistent that they were out too late and needed to get back to the lodging before it got even darker than it already was, stopped in his tracks. Itey took advantage of the moment when Snitch turned to look at him, to take Snitch's head in his hands and kiss him slowly. It had been more than a month since Snitch had done the same thing to him, and Snitch's words, _just once_ still echoed in Itey's mind. When they parted, Itey held onto Snitch's shoulders tightly, willing him not to run away.

"Twice," said Itey, as soon as he'd caught his breath. He turned abruptly, and nearly ran back home, feeling that that was the only way to expel the nervous energy that had built up within him.


End file.
